Missed it by that much.
Hello cave critters. Welcome to the last post of the year.
I have been casting about for new mountains to climb and it's getting mildly difficult to find mountains I haven't climbed already that are within commuting distance. I was spoiled when I got bitten by the mountain bug. I live close enough to Okutama that for a few years I could simply take my bicycle and find a new mountain. Now I need to go farther away.
Yesterday, I chose a spot between Lake Yamanaka in Yamanashi Prefecture and Lake Tanzawa in Kanagawa Prefecture. I've hiked all around Yamanaka and have hiked quite a bit in the Tanzawa area, but never in this corner of Kanagawa. Let me get the details out of the way so I can share some pictures with you.
Location: Yamanashi/Shizuoka/Kanagawa
Starting and stopping point: Mikuni Pass 三国峠
Mountains climbed: Mts Mikuni~Moujin~Yubune~Shirokuranoto~Furo (North and South Peaks)~Oiwa~Teppokinoto
Getting there/getting around: There is a parking lot at the Mikuni Pass. There are buses that stop close by the lake. Mt. Mikuni and Mt. Teppokinoto are convenient to buses. There is also a bus stop at the Myoujin Pass.
Map: Yama to Kogen Chizu Tanzawa #29 山と高原地図・29・丹沢
Weather Information: Mt. Furo Weather
Time: 7 hours 45 minutes plus 45 minutes break
Distance: 26.9km/16.7 miles
Elevation: Lowest: 395 meters Highest: 1,320 meters Total Ascent: 1,891 meters Total Descent: 1,891 meters
Technical considerations/difficulty: This was not a very technically challenging hike, although it was long. There were only two spots I recall where ropes were in place. For the most part it was not too steep. One portion where the trail is not really well-marked and you need to use common sense to pick your way is between Yozuku Pass (世附峠) and the Yozuku River below. To descend from there to the river, you need to find your way down a spider's web of forestry roads. They are all in disrepair. Some of them dead end. Portions of them have disappeared in landslides and you must decide whether to detour or turn back. That part of the hike took me a lot longer than I estimated it would. After that, the final several miles of the hike are along a closed, lonely forestry road. That wasn't in very bad shape, though. I was able to make up some time.
Facilities: Nothing commercial. My (2019) map shows restrooms at the Myojin Pass (明神峠) and the Yozuku Pass (世附峠) but I can't recall seeing them when I was there. I seem to remember Yozuku Pass as being especially barren. Maybe there used to be a restroom.
Just hold it. Patience is a virtue.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations: One of the nice things about this hike was that there was nobody there. Well, almost nobody. I did see two guys eating lunch at the top of Mt. Furo. And I happened upon one fisherman by the river who happened to be relieving himself just as I was coming around the corner. That was funny. He really didn't expect anyone to show up when he decided to do his business al fresco. Being Japanese, he still tried to be polite and do the greeting/small-talk thing with me.
Without zipping up. 😂
I'm really glad Japanese people don't shake hands.
This was probably my last trek for 2022. I have thoroughly enjoyed the mountains this year. I'm glad to have ended the year on a day of good weather and am looking forward to getting out again to start 2023 right off the bat. I'm not sure what my plan is for the next year. I've been going out at least once a week for the past 2 (or 3?) years. Part of me thinks it would be sane to slow down. The other part of me says "Why?" I always enjoy the mountains and I really like to think about them after I come home.
I'll tell you a secret, dear reader. I would be keeping this blog even if nobody read it. It's more for me than for anyone else. I just want to remember what I've done. If I can make some happy by showing them some beautiful pictures or if I can give someone ideas about hiking in Japan, that's great. I don't expect it, though.
Anyways . . .
Here are some pictures:
The first Google Earth screenshot shows a map oriented to the west. This gives a sense of where I was in relation to Mt. Fuji and Lake Yamanaka. The best views I had of Fuji were at the beginning and the end of the day since I started and ended nearer to Fuji.
If you notice, there are little green triangles dotting the screenshot. Those are places I've been before. I don't know why, but Google Earth has seemed to lose about half of them. I have such a bad memory that I sometimes forget the places I have climbed without seeing some kind of documentation.
You can see Mt. Mikuni at the top left of my footprints. From that point, there is a grey line tracing a ridge up to the top of Fuji. That is the prefectural boundary between Yamanashi to the north and Shizuoka to the south. A trail runs along the border. I hiked that trail as far as the Misaka Pass on Route 138 earlier this year. A little further along from there that trail joins the Subashiri Trail to the top of Fuji.
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